By Nneka Nwogwugwu
In preparations for the meeting of the Conference of Parties COP26 in Glasgow, the Minister of Environment, Sharon Ikeazor, has said the federal government of Nigeria, would seek out opportunities to mobilise funds to mitigate the challenge of climate change in the country at the Glasgow.
Ikeazor said this in Abuja at the 15 National Council on Environment (NCE) which focused on the appraisal of emerging challenges and the opportunities in the environment sector.
She said “The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP 26 meeting scheduled to hold in Glasgow later this month, would be an opportunity showcase our achievements and address the Agenda items for discussion that are of immediate importance to Nigeria these include:
“Mobilising finance to address climate change, scaling up adaptation by strengthening our ability to adapt to climate change impacts and Finalising the Paris Rulebook – focusing on Article 6, the minister told the participant to the 15tg Council on the environment.”
According to her part of the obligation of Nigeria and by extending the ministry, to the Paris Agreement was to improve on the nation’s adaptation strategy to climate change for that the ministry has been able to “revise the National Policy on Climate Change (NPCC) which was approved in June 2021 by the Federal Executive Council.
“It went further to develop an adaptation communication document, which will highlight Nigeria adaptation efforts to the impacts of climate change, the Minister stated.
According to Ikeazor, the country has been able to “Develop a National Action Plan on Gender and Climate Change (NAPGCC) in line with the Gender Action Plan adopted in COP23 Bonn 2017.
The minister was also able to establish a National Youth Climate Innovation Hub and developed a Youth Manual to harness climate innovation ideas from young Nigerians as well as include youths in the decision-making process.
She pointed out that the commitment to improve the nation’s carbon credit has led to the remediation of (HYPREP). 15.3 Hectares of polluted land into arable land suitable for agricultural activities in Ogoniland.
Also, among other achievements, the Minister pointed out that currently, the construction of six water supply schemes with a capacity of supplying 2400 cubic meters (m3) of portable water per day to communities across the four LGAs of Ogoniland is ongoing.
According to her, all these efforts aimed at the safety of the environment for Nigerians habitation would be raised at the Conference of Parties 26bin glass chow with a view to access funding for Nigeria to further empower Nigerians and fight climate change.
